GameZombie TV sweeps Webby Awards in Student category

May 05, 2010

The student-produced Web series GameZombie TV at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater has won two top awards at this year’s 14th annual Webby Awards.

Competing against projects from much larger schools, GameZombie TV garnered enough votes to win the People’s Voice Award in addition to the Webby Award, whose recipient is chosen by a panel of judges.

“This is something we’ve been striving toward for years now,” said Spencer Striker, UW-Whitewater communication instructor and series creator. “Winning the award from both the academy and the people’s vote makes us the top student online video creators in the world.”

The annual Webby Awards includes submissions from all 50 states and more than 60 countries. Hailed as the “Internet’s highest honor” by the New York Times, the Webby Awards is the leading international award honoring excellence on the Internet.

GameZombie TV offers original video game shows, such as ButtonMashers, and exclusive interviews with top game developers shot on location at the major gaming conventions, including GDC, E3, and PAX.

This is the first time the original Web series has won the Webby Award and the People’s Voice Award in the student category. GameZombie TV has won the Webby Honoree Award twice in years past.

With help from students, faculty members and the community, GameZombie TV was able to garner enough votes to win the People’s Voice Award, beating out submissions from larger schools such as the Columbia School of Journalism in New York.

The student-produced Web series will be honored June 14 at the annual Webby Awards Gala in New York City. The event will be hosted by B.J. Nowak from the NBC sitcom “The Office.”

Now that Striker and students no longer need to work on gathering votes, they can begin work on their five-word acceptance speech, which is the traditional length of speeches at the Webby Awards Gala.